Accidental Meetings

Accidental Meetings

“What is it?” I asked afraid to find out what the ancient fragile Vampire needed.

“It is a human thing,” he said, now no longer in a whisper. “We need your help.”

I told them to call 911 and wait.

30 minutes later my 17-year-old Garrett and I had arrived at the farmhouse. My husband Teddy and 14-year-old Clara were out seeing “Frozen” with friends. I swear, I’m surprised I didn’t get pulled over for speeding, but it isn’t like I couldn’t have talked my way out of a ticket.

We parked by the side of the road which was blocked off by a lot of emergency vehicles. Flashing lights and a lot of people – exactly what Vampires like us try to avoid. Without interacting with anyone we made it to the farmhouse.

Tellias met us at the door wearing steel-blue coveralls, the kind that mechanics wear, with a bright yellow scarf around his neck. His white blonde hair fell around his shoulders. Eleora had on a stretched out red sweater and a red and blue pleated plaid skirt that fell a few inches below her knees. She had on pink slippers. Her hair was wet.

They look like they’re only 19 or 20 years old but they are ancient Vampires – over 2,000 years old. Dealing with elders isn’t just for regular humans or pet owners. We all must take care of those in our lives who need extra help.

They took Garrett and me by the hands and brought us into the house.

“Why is your hair wet sweetie?” I asked Eleora.

“A car went into the water,” she whispered.

“A car went into the river with a woman in it,” said Tellias. “Eleora pulled her out, and her daughter.”

“Another car hit them. I went into the water after them. I could feel their fear. I broke the glass and pulled them out.”

Tellias came close and whispered. “They were full of water. Eleora sucked the water right out of their lungs.”

Eleora nodded her head. “Right out.”

“Did you help anyone else?” I had to ask, fearing certain answers.

Tellias narrowed his eyes at me. “Nobody will die tonight Juliette.”

“Not tonight,” sang Eleora with a smile and a wink.

I swear, dealing with these ancient Vampires drives me crazy.

I glared at them and could hear myself lecturing them. “You should have let them alone. You shouldn’t have helped except to get them out of the water or basic first aid. You know the rules.”

“We made the rules,” said Tellias. “Stop scolding us.”

The front door opened. John, who lived next door, was standing there looking grim. In his early 60’s he was still a handsome man who made heads turn. “Juliette, come outside.”

With Garrett tagging along, I followed John to the edge of driveway. I could see the top of a car in the river. Two other mangled cars and a large farm truck were on the side of the road.

John was visibly shaken but not saying anything about his own fears or pain. His wife had been killed in a car accident 20 years ago. “Eleora and Tellias were out for a walk and saw it all. It looked like a drunk in a truck was speeding. He clipped a car and it spun out taking other cars with them. The drunk kept on going. When the car went into the river Eleora dove in and pulled out a woman and her daughter. Then we helped with the rest. It’s a miracle nobody was killed, but…” He tapered off. I knew the but. There were serious injuries and lives interrupted. Then there was the matter of Eleora and Tellias helping.

“They saved lives tonight.” John patted my back. “I couldn’t believe how quickly they took action. People would have died…”

I stopped him from saying more. “Have you ever read Dracula? I don’t want to use that as an example because it is fiction. Fiction John. But remember the character Renfield? The crazy guy who ate bugs? Any lives they saved tonight will forever be bound to Tellias and Eleora if they want it. Not that Tellias or Eleora will ever act on it or whatever, but those people, those humans, will be bound forever to those two old fools who live next door to you.”

“You’re harsh,” said John.

“I’m a realist. You aren’t a Vampire. You have no idea what we can do to people.”

“I’ve lived around your family my entire life.”

“We’ve sheltered and protected you. You don’t know,” I snapped.

Garrett tugged at my arm, “Mom, I would have done the same thing. I mean, I would have saved them.”

I said nothing. I was too angry to say anything. All I could do was look at the wreckage almost numb at the extent of the damage. The three of us turned and walked back to the farmhouse.

A Highway Patrol officer was at the house. The two woman who been pulled from the car were sitting in the kitchen wrapped in blankets. It broke my heart to see them and know what a horrible frightening experience they’d had. At the same time I knew what other nightmares they might have.

Eleora had made tea for everyone. The officer was asking them questions. He knew Eleora. No doubt she’d sucked blood out of his big handsome neck in the past as he patrolled the rural route past their farm. Sometimes being a Vampire was more complicated that I wanted it to be (yes, add that to having kids in high school and marriage and work and everything else a mom does.)

Questions were answered. Everyone involved in the accident was taken away to hospitals or home. I left the elders with John. I couldn’t wait to get home.

Eleora and Tellias gave us hugs before we left and thanked us for coming. Eleora whispered in my ear, “We love you so much.” I kissed her cheek and patted her hand.

When we got into the car I told Garrett to play music. Any music as long as it was loud and would get my mind off of the night.

As I drove away my mind wandered back to the day before. I was having a conversation with my kids about vegans. If you’re a vegan because of “moral” reasons could you be a scavenger – that is could you eat road kill because it is already dead? Then my husband said “Redneck Vegans. That could be a new TV show.”

As if he could read my mind, which he could because we’re, you know, Vampires, Garrett said, “We need our own reality TV show Mom. We could call it Blood Relatives.”

“Very good. But nobody would believe it.”

“They believe Honey Boo Boo and Duck Dynasty.”

“Then we’d have to be redneck Vampires and I’m not going to be a redneck.”

“Mom, we could be The Red Neck Vampires. Get it? Red Neck.”

“Nice try. I love you baby.”

“Love you too Mom.”

I thought of the mother and daughter who were saved. The daughter was about the same age as my son. That could have been us. We could have been in danger if there had been fire or something much worse. I took his hand and gave it a squeeze.

By the time we arrived back home I was feeling a lot better. We watched the sunrise together before we went inside.

In big and little ways the ability to change directions and go from one extreme to another without missing a beat is what life is all about. Old and young and all of us in the middle – it is what we do. It is who we are.

For the new year remember to make it a goal to love and to appreciate the miraculous and strange things that happen in life, both big and little. It isn’t magic or mystical. It is just chance or you could say a twist of fate, but not really fate.

You never know who will be there to help. You never know but sometimes it might seem like a miracle or something you won’t be able to describe. But there are those who will help – more than you think.

I don’t really believe in fate, not much. None the less, when good things happen or bad things are avoided treasure that. Most of all you should treasure those precious folks that make up your life.